A primer on political terminology

      Language is a complex subject.  Words carry all sorts of meaning.  You can have two or more words that, on the surface, are somewhat synonymous, but deep down, may carry all sorts of extra baggage.  For example, consider these two words: "data" and "information".  They kinda-sorta mean the same thing, but then again, there are significant differences in the minds of the listener. 

      Here is another pair of rather similar words that are almost synonyms, but have rather important differences:  "wealth" and "affluence".
      In politics, the choice of words, and how to use them, is critical.  It makes a huge difference in your persuasiveness and the power of your arguments.  Additionally, the power of words can be abused and twisted.  Thus, the cynical and well-informed consumer of political punditry needs to recognize when the speaker/writer is trying to sneak one over on us.  And finally, we as speakers/writers need to clearly communicate what it is we are trying to say.
      And so, here is a primer on political terminology, using some of the most common, and most abused, words in the political lexicon.  The article is divided into three parts, depending on which political orthodoxy tends to use the term most often:  Liberals, Conservatives, or everybody.

USED MOSTLY BY LIBERALS:                                                        Preferred term:

Corporation                                                                                    Large profit-making business
In my article I discussed how liberals love this term because it has a nasty ring to it.  What they are referring to, of course, is a large profit-making business that creates jobs and pays employees money, something that liberals hate.  Note that the company might not even be officially incorporated.  Also, "large" is rather subjective. 

Revenue enhancement                                                                  Tax increase

Everybody hates "taxes", so when we raise them, let's simply call it something else.

Free                                                                                                    Tax-supported

Everybody loves free stuff.  But it ain't really "free" - the government is just making somebody else pay for it.  Eventually, of course, you run out of other people's money.

Common Good/General Welfare                                                 (none)

In my article I explained that these terms really mean absolutely nothing, therefore they can mean anything.  See also "National Interest" in the Conservative group, below.

Public school                                                                                    Government school

We're talking here about schools that are owned, run, and managed by the government.

Rich/wealthy                                                                                    Successful

To be rich or wealthy, you must be very smart, and ready, willing, and able to work very hard.  But liberals hate the concept.  They say everyone should be equal - even people who are lazy, and/or not smart.

USED MOSTLY BY CONSERVATIVES:                                             Preferred term:

Superpower                                                                                      Global military empire

Similar to "revenue enhancement" above.  But "Global military empire" sounds so evil, so let's just call it something else.

Socialism                                                                                           Governmental wealth redistribution
Conservatives use this term a lot.  But in my article my article I pointed out how liberals, upon hearing the word, always want to change the discussion topic to a debate about semantical definitions.  I understand their desire to be linguistically correct, but the original discussion topic was POLITICS.  Conservatives can avoid the whole messy distraction by using the suggested preferred term.

Tax cut                                                                                               Deficit increase

A tax cut without a corresponding spending cut accomplishes nothing.  Every dime the government spends must come from SOMEPLACE.  But conservatives, just like liberals, do not cut spending.  Ever.  So in the end, it's really just another deficit increase.

National Interest                                                                             (none)

See "Common good/General welfare" above in the Liberal group.

USED BY EVERYBODY:                                                                     Preferred term:

Capitalism                                                                                         Free enterprise/Free market

"Capital", or the lack thereof, has nothing to do with the economic system we are describing here.  Even the governments of socialist, communist, and fascist nations have "capital".  The very word "Capitalism" was coined by Karl Marx, a man who promoted ultimate governmental power and domination.  Instead, use a term that captures the key feature of this superior economic system:  Freedom!

Regulation                                                                                        Bureaucratic control

In my article I pointed out how bureaucracy is the worst possible way to solve problems.  Yes, "bureaucracy" definitely has a negative ring to it, but for very good and proper reasons!  So call it what it is, and don't sugar-coat it with "regulation", which implies that government bureaucrats know what they heck they are doing.  They don't.